Albert By Default

Well, I got the part I wanted in Birdie. The lead, no less. Yet, because of the circumstances that cropped up on the last day of callbacks, I can't help but feel like I only got the part because of the circumstances - I'm Albert by default. So, I'm not as happy about getting the role as I thought I would be.

Going into callbacks, it was rather obvious to everyone who was being looked at for what. As I stated before, three people were up for Albert. However, the casting committee had me and another Albert candidate learn and sing "Kids" as we were also possibilities for Mr. Macafee.

It was kind of funny 'cause we were sitting next to each other chitchatting about other local shows when they called him up to sing. He did a fantastic job as he is a very good actor. When he sat back down, he kinda of slapped my knee in a friendly way that said "Beat that!" It struck me funny 'cause I never thought it was a competetion like that. But, if he was gonna throw the gauntlet down, I was gonna accept the challenge.

And I delivered. If it was American Idol, this Bo Bice has just scored major points against his Carrie Underwood. The second challenge was the reading/acting challenge where we did cold readings from the script. Not that I was bad, but he was good. All tied up: Bo 1, Carrie 1. It was to come down to the final night of callbacks.

Then, circumstances changed. I cannot go into the rumors and gossip because I am not going to add to it all. I don't know facts, I only got hearsay and I do not want to play that game. The result of all of this was he had to drop out. And, now I think he would have won the part and I only got it by default.

True, there was a third person, but I don't think he auditioned well with the song. Which is sad because he's a really good singer. Probably what happened was he wasn't familiar with the song and the 10 minutes we had to learn it wasn't enough. I hope he still does the show.

I'm quite conflicted about it all. I mean, yeah for me, I got the part I wanted. But, I really did not want it this way. In truth, I hope I get to work with him someday. He is extremely talented when it comes to theatre. I hope that whatever is happening in his life, he is able to put it behind him. I hope that despite what happened with the show, he would see us as friends. I think that's what JC would want me to do. Not to shun him, but to help him. In truth, I've only met him about a month or two ago and only started getting to know him in the past 2 weeks. But, we were easily getting along, in spite of being up for the same role.

In the mean time, I'll be Conrad Birdie's manager. And learn how the fuck to dance. Now, I am freaking out a little...